MATT SORUM On VELVET REVOLVER: 'We've Still Got Something To Prove'

Jon Wiederhorn of AOL's Noisecreep recently conducted an interview with VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer Matt Sorum. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Noisecreep: How has the audition process been going?

Sorum: We tried out a lot of new guys, and basically it's quite a process. Scott Weiland is one of the best frontmen out there. And I've been in bands with Axl Rose and Ian Astbury. Those are big shoes to fill. So we're looking for a tried and true individual that can mesh with guys like us that have been out there doing this for a long time.

It hasn't been an easy task, and that's why it's taking a long time. But we don't want to come out half-cocked. We want to create something that people are gonna go, "Wow, that's awesome." We've had a couple situations where we've been with some singers, and we've pulled out of because we didn't feel completely secure in the fact that going forward the guy was the right move.

We tried out some fairly unknown guys and some guys that have been out there a little bit. But the guy we're really excited about know is a pretty known guy. I don't want to say anything yet because we're still in the dating phase. We haven't consummated the relationship or made a gentleman's agreement. So I can't let the cat out of the bag until there's an official stamp of approval on the deal.

Noisecreep: How will the next record be different than "Contraband" or "Libertad"?

Sorum: "Contraband" had sort of a punk rock element to it. When I listen to it, I feel like it's got a lot of angst to it. When I was making that record, I wasn't newly sober, but I had been sober a little bit. I remember I was still trying to feel comfortable in my own skin. And that angst came off useful for us.

There's an energy that says, "Man, these guys still have a lot of vitality in them." And when I listen to "Libertad", I feel like that album's something that we sort of weren't [into] at the time. It took a turn more for the singer in the band. Scott wanted to make a certain kind of record, so that became more his thing. "Contraband" was already written before Scott came into play. He just gravitated towards the songs and wrote the lyrics and the melody. "Libertad" was more an album based around what his lyrics and vision was, and it came off a little lightweight.

Noisecreep: It sounds like your next record might be more like "Contraband"?

Sorum: Well, that's the goal and I know we're fired up about it and that's the beauty about these guys in the band. I can look at all of them and know that they're passionate enough about making the music and they have enough drive left in them. In a way, we've still got something to prove. It's more about outdoing ourselves and trying to be the best we can be.

The goal now is to get right back together [this month] and make a call on the singer. Slash is going to finish out his tour through the beginning of the summer, and then hopefully by that time we'll have a bunch of songs compiled. We all work on our own, and send each other ideas and work together when we got breaks. And maybe we'll take a few more weeks to write, get in the studio and record an album by the end of the summer to get it out by the late part of 2011. I'm looking forward to that. We've all had enough time to go out and live other lives and have an adventure and organically come back as a unit that wants to do it again.

Read the entire interview from Noisecreep.